> As with email, which has an assumption of privacy, but is really
> public, webpostings should be considered fully public, even when you
> use a "pen name" to post them.
Steve (et al.),
The First Circuit Court of Appeals recently rule that there is *no*
presumption
of privacy (and, thus, right to anonymity) in e-mail.
"When a customer signs up with an e-mail provider like Interloc, he
routinely is
asked to read and expressly sign off on a privacy agreement which defines his
expectations of privacy visą-vis the provider. If the protections are
inadequate, he may decline the e-mail service and seek an alternative service
contract which will afford him the protections he requires. [....] If Interloc
did intercept its customers' messages in breach of a privacy agreement, the
remedy lies in contract, not in the Wiretap Act." (47-48)
http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/03-1383EB-01A.pdf
In other words, your presumption of privacy extends no farther than the
contract
you "sign" with your ISP, and if you don't insist on adequate privacy
(and your
ISP doesn't give it to you), you're pretty much up the creek.
Sad, sad, sad.
But back to the Court Blog -- I have no sympathy for this guy at all.
He outed
himself because he wanted "recognition" for all of his work on the blog. When
the consequences come a-knocking, he's got no one but himself to blame. One
would have thought that an Ivy-educated lawyer would have been taught more
prudence and discretion.
--
Richard E. Parent, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of English
Old Mill 435, University of Vermont
Burlington, VT 05405
Phone (802) 656-3312
Fax (802) 656-3055
[log in to unmask]
http://www.uvm.edu/~reparent/
Quoting Steve Cavrak <[log in to unmask]>:
>
> On Nov 17, 2005, at 4:51 PM, Chris Moran wrote:
>
>> Um.. I find that highly wrong. While I rarely hide my identity when
>> I speak up,
>> anonimity is protected to at least some extent.
>>
>> From http://www.epic.org/free_speech/ :
>> "Appeals Court Upholds Anonymous Online Speech. In the first
>> appellate decision
>> to address the issue, a New Jersey appeals court has established stringent
>> procedural and evidentiary standards that must be met before the
>> identity of an
>> anonymous online poster can be disclosed through litigation.
>
>
> While there is often a presumption of anonimity, there is no
> guarantee of this ...
>
> "Litigation" refers to legal procedures, and in this case, the rights
> of "discovery."
>
> Discovery, however, doesn't always have to come through court
> procedures. That's what keeps newspapers, etc, in business. (Not to
> mention private detectives, or even private database companies ...)
>
> As with email, which has an assumption of privacy, but is really
> public, webpostings should be considered fully public, even when you
> use a "pen name" to post them.
>
> Steve
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